Will he or won’t he? Flaherty sows confusion on his career plans

OTTAWA – Was Jim Flaherty’s 10th budget his swan song?

The finance minister created more confusion over his career plans when asked by a reporter whether he would present the next budget.

Flaherty responded by saying he would stick around to see through the implementation of the budget he tabled Tuesday.

He did not elaborate on what that meant, mentioning that tabling 10 budgets is “a lot.”

Speculation that the 64-year-old might retire before the 2015 election has run rampant in Ottawa circles since he revealed he is suffering from a rare and painful skin condition.

Still, he has said as recently as November that he would run again, and wanted to see the budget balanced.